The world today is overcome with the overlapping challenges of war. global economic uncertainty, climate change and food insecurity. The cost of war. be it in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the heart of the Sudan, or the war between Russia and Ukraine, has at best led to the displacement of innocent women and children, and at worst led to the demise of many of our brothers and sisters. War has left scars that extend beyond the physical; it wounds the souls of nations and fragments the bonds that hold humankind together. Needless to say. humankind must win the war against war. Neither must we lose the race to save our planet. Destroying our planet is destroying our very own existence.
At this seventy-eighth session, we. as a global community, must bolster our commitment towards the implementation of all existing agreements. We need to agree and work towards strengthening global partnerships and good governance that will uphold the dignity and human rights of all people. We must accelerate the attainment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We must direct our efforts towards addressing inequalities and realizing a just transition and fostering greater climate action for present and future generations. In this case, a just transition must mean fairness among nations. While we acknowledge that fairness is not about equality.
fairness must guarantee the access of each nation to its unique needs.
Nations burdened with debt must be guaranteed access to cheaper and fairer financing. That ought to be one of the pillars of restoring trust in our systems. It is therefore imperative that the international financial institutions and multilateral development banks scale up concessional financing to least developed countries, and that financing should be under improved terms of lending.
Regrettably, the exorbitant cost of capital remains an insidious problem afflicting the global South. In fact. Africa bears the heaviest burden of those crippling capital costs. We implore the international community to grasp the urgency of that matter and to ensure that every nation, regardless of its economic size, has equitable access to affordable capital. It is a fact that countries with smaller economies are in greater need of the capital that, unfortunately, ends up in first world economies that need it least.
We recognize that a few development partners have honoured their pledges of official development assistance, and we applaud them for that effort. We also commend France and other partners for successfully hosting the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris in June. Zambia further expresses its appreciation to the Creditor Committee of the Group of 20. with a special note of gratitude to the co-Chairs. China and France, along with the Vice-Chair. South Africa. Their diligent work and collaborative spirit played an indispensable role in reaching that important agreement to restructure Zambia’s heavy debt burden.
We continue calling for the reform of the international financial architecture to accelerate the decision-making process that would enable countries in special circumstances to restructure debt. We wish to welcome the Secretary-General’s proposal for a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Stimulus of at least $500 billion per annum to offset the unfavourable financing conditions faced by countries in special situations. The elements of that package hold great potential to catalyse transformative actions in least developed countries in critical sectors such as renewable energy, social protection for the weak, health care, quality education, food security, resilient infrastructure, artificial intelligence (Al) and information technology.
There is need to scale up partnerships and collaboration so that we can have a unified effort in strengthening the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation for the world to combat illicit financial flows. It is also important that we enhance the protection of the domestic resources that are required for application to desired sectors, as outlined in the SDG Stimulus proposal.
With regard to climate finance, we wish to emphasize the need for an effective implementation mechanism for the Loss and Damage Fund, agreed upon at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the same manner, we reiterate the need to honour the annual $100-billion pledge for climate finance, with greater emphasis on adaptation. That will be very crucial if we are to uphold the credibility of global efforts that are aimed at addressing climate injustices and protecting our planet from further degradation.
To complement access to affordable finance, countries need to enhance trade and investment as the engine of economic development and job creation at both the regional and the multilateral levels. Under the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Zambia is leading the COMESA integration agenda by reducing barriers to trade and encouraging the free movement of businesspersons and goods.
In this era of instant communication and globalized economies, the well-being of one nation profoundly impacts the well-being of another. Leveraging the transformative capabilities of digital technology, especially artificial intelligence, we aspire to enhance the quality of life for our citizens. We need only imagine using Al to deliver lifesaving medicines to a seemingly forgotten grandmother in a village in Africa, or the grand transformation we can achieve in harnessing the fertile soils of countries like Zambia using the technology of precision irrigation. As information communication technologies continue to advance, we have a new frontier for interaction in digital cooperation. Now it is possible for a professor at Harvard to mentor students in Kenya or to deliver a lecture at the University of Lusaka.
The advancement in digital technology makes it possible to improve the quality of lives of our people by creating new jobs and opportunities for young people, as well as providing access to top-class education and quality health care for all. It is therefore very important that we continue to forge new alliances in the development and use of technologies, the creation
and sharing of digital resources and content, and the development of regulations and policies that govern the use of digital technologies to promote social and economic development. We also need to enhance cooperation and ensure that the digital space and technologies are used in a responsible manner. We. therefore, call for support and investment in digital infrastructure, and the provision of access to affordable devices and internet services in under-serviced communities in least developed countries.
The empowerment of women and girls is very important in decisively overcoming poverty in our societies. Beyond the economic empowerment of women, we need to equally put greater emphasis on programmes that will promote their well-being. That is why President Hakainde Hichilema. as the African Union Champion on. Ending Child Marriage, will continue to enhance collaboration in preventing and wiping out the scourge of early and child marriages so that we can foster an environment conducive to giving children a chance in life. Consistent with that. Zambia, in collaboration with the African Union, will this year host a conference for traditional and religious leaders across Africa aimed at advancing a culture that promotes inclusive development and the prevention of early and child marriages.
Zambia, in line with our reputation as a beacon of peace on the African continent, will continue to champion the cause of peace, security and stability as prerequisites for sustainable development. Without peace, our joint development efforts will be in vain. We shall continue to call for the use of diplomacy as the only option for resolving conflict between nations. Zambia is committed to furthering peace, security and stability, and that President Hichilema visited Kyiv and St. Petersburg, alongside other select African leaders, and held honest and constructive discussions with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy. Zambia will continue to be committed to the Charter of the United Nations and its principles of upholding territorial integrity and just respect for international borders.
As Zambia leads the Southern African Development Community Organ on Politics. Defence and Security Cooperation, we pledge not only to play our individual role, but also to galvanize regional efforts to restore peace in the areas requiring intervention on our continent. We take immense pride in our strong democratic credentials, and we will continue to guarantee the Zambian people their rights and freedoms, including their civil liberties. President Hichilema has led his Government to the historic abolishment of the death penalty and of the offence of criminal defamation of the President. That is the first time this has been achieved in the history of Zambia.
Today we address the Assembly with a sense of accomplishment, because prudent fiscal policies have been reinstated in our country. We are nurturing our economy back to health, and the results are quantifiable. In 2021. our economy achieved a commendable growth rate of 4.7 per cent following a contraction of 2.8 per cent in 2020. In 2022. the economy demonstrated resilience and maintained a positive growth of 3.7 per cent. Furthermore, we have diligently worked to reduce year- end inflation to single digits, making it at 9.9 per cent for the calendar year 2022. Concurrently, our Government is deeply committed to stabilizing the exchange rate of the local currency, the Zambian kwacha, against major currencies. Going forward, we will remain steadfast in reducing the cost of essential household goods for our people.
Zambia reiterates the call to reform the Security Council to make it more inclusive, and particularly for Africa to have permanent representation, in line with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. Those reforms will not only enhance the legitimacy of the Security Council, but put an end to that historic injustice against Africa. The time has come to ensure the true composition of our United Nations family, as well as to create an opportunity for a better diplomatic position and representation for countries that are perceived to be weaker.
The threat of nuclear warfare is a matter that needs our full attention. We take this opportunity to reiterate our resolute stance against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and we advocate for a world free of nuclear threats. We urge all nations — and we mean all nations — to uphold their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to work to prevent the development and production of chemical weapons.
We have set our eyes on an agenda to put the world on a path of sustainability and success for the next generation. We are hopeful that all our voices will be heard at the Summit of the Future next year. We shall rebuild trust in this forum. A platform such as ours must ensure that inequality and systemic injustice are tackled and that the benefits of progress are shared
across the world. Zambia therefore calls on all States Members of the United Nations, the private sector, youth groups across the world and other stakeholders to come together in good faith to draw out the contours of the world as it should be for future generations as we pass the baton on all the challenges we face today for a sustainable and positive future.